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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26941093">Since Nineteen Thirty-Four, Pal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sopdetly/pseuds/sopdetly'>sopdetly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Retirement, Small Towns, like just sooooo soft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:02:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26941093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sopdetly/pseuds/sopdetly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the war, he thought—they both thought—that if they just laid low, made things look right to the rest of the world, eventually they'd be able to just... <em>be</em>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>120</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Since Nineteen Thirty-Four, Pal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/theemdash">Em</a> for the quick beta!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve watched from the kitchen window, sipping his coffee, feet bare on hardwood, pajama pants worn thin at the seat. He wore his favorite shirt of Bucky's, the University of Birnin Zana logo stretched across his chest. Outside the window, Bucky walked through the back garden, checking on the vegetables, stepping carefully through the pathways he'd built over the last year or so.</p><p>A year or so. Steve couldn't remember when he last thought he'd ever get that kind of time with Bucky. It was probably in 1942, before Bucky's draft papers came in. Before Steve tried everything he could think of to join the Army, only to find a way in the one way he never would have thought of. But back before that, he thought—they both thought—that if they just laid low, made things look right to the rest of the world, eventually they'd be able to just... <em>be</em>. </p><p>Bucky made the turn around the back bend, so Steve started to prepare some tea with the kettle water still hot from his coffee. </p><p>"Morning," Steve greeted, handing Bucky the tea as he came in through the back door into the kitchen. </p><p>"Thanks," Bucky said. He took a careful sip, then leaned over and kissed Steve softly. </p><p> <br/>
 </p><p>By ten-thirty, they drove into town and Bucky went to pick up their mail. Steve waited outside, pet a dog trotting by on with its owner, shivered in the late October air. Bales of hay and a few pumpkins and gourds decorated the post office front steps. It's nice; Steve couldn't wait to see how this town did Christmas. He'd fallen in love with the small town charm, and he was glad Bucky found things to love about it, too.</p><p>The door swung open with the tinkling of a bell, and Bucky walked down the stairs, holding a box to Steve. "You order something?"</p><p>Steve took the box, smiled, tucked it under his arm. "Maybe." He points down the street. "Do you need the garden center today?"</p><p>Bucky shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to check while we're here."</p><p> <br/>
 </p><p>They were home by one, after eating lunch at the diner and boosting their caffeine levels from the little coffee shop and bakery. Bucky had his hot chocolate; Steve went for pumpkin spice to prove he wasn't actually an old man.</p><p>Steve had put the package in the car before they went to the garden center and lunch, and forgot about it until he checked his email on his phone and saw the email confirming the delivery at the post office. He ran out to the car and picked it up, laughing at himself.</p><p>"You gonna tell me what that is?" Bucky asked, sitting in the den and flipping a page in his novel.</p><p>"Not yet."</p><p>Bucky looked up, shook his head, and then went back to his book. "Okay."</p><p> <br/>
 </p><p>For dinner that night, Bucky made lasagna. Steve baked a pie for dessert. They washed the dishes together, dried them and put them away, moved to sit in the living room. Steve got out his pencils and a sketch pad; Bucky put on a record. They read and drew, listened to music quietly on the sofa together.</p><p>Steve was used to how Bucky had a hard time sitting still. Bucky slowly stretched out across the cushions, tucking his toes under Steve's thighs, so Steve pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa, covering Bucky's legs. Later, Bucky sat up, pressing against Steve's side, and Steve moved his arm around Bucky's shoulders, fingers lightly playing with Bucky's hair. They held that position for a little while, until Bucky started to shift around again, still restless.</p><p>"You ready for bed?" Steve asked, putting his pencil aside.</p><p>"Mmm. Probably should start to get ready." Bucky stretched, kissed Steve's cheek. "I'm going to wash up. Meet you in bed." </p><p>"You bet," Steve agreed. He looked over his sketches before putting them away. Strolling into the kitchen, he picked up the package, grabbing a pair of scissors to strip off the packing tape. He pulled the box out of the cardboard, turned it over in his hand. With a deep breath, Steve turned off the lights and headed upstairs.</p><p> <br/>
 </p><p>Bucky pulled his hair back, quickly braiding it loosely as he walked from the bathroom to the bedroom, the dim lights setting a sleepy mood. He slid into bed quietly, bare legs moving easily against the sheets. He curled close to Steve, who was sitting up, flipping through his iPad.</p><p>"Good day," Bucky said, mumbling against Steve's bicep. </p><p>"Yeah. Not bad." Steve looked down, smiled at Bucky. "Hey, you remember that woman in town last week, the one at the market selling fruit?"</p><p>"Mmhmm. Got my plums." </p><p>Steve put his tablet down. "She <em>was </em>flirting with you."</p><p>Bucky groaned and rolled away enough to land flat on his back, his hands coming up to cover his face. "<em>Steve</em>. You jealous idiot."</p><p>"I'm not <em>jealous</em>. I can't blame her for flirting with you. She's smart, clearly has good taste." Steve sighed, looked down at Bucky and smiled softly. "I'm not jealous, but I'll grant that I'm... possessive."</p><p>"Since nineteen thirty-four, pal."</p><p>"So." He pulled the box over from the bedside table, a little cardboard cube. "I have a solution." Bucky didn't take it right away, so Steve shook it at him. "Come on."</p><p>Bucky narrowed his eyes, took the box warily. "What have you done, Steven?"</p><p>Steve nudged him with his elbow. "Come <em>on</em>." </p><p>"I don't trust you," Bucky mumbled, but of course he did, he trusted him more than anyone else he'd ever known. So he opened the box, sucking in a breath when he found another box within. This box—a velvet box—suggested things. He looked at Steve, not wanting to open it more. "Are you seriously—?"</p><p>"Probably not quite what you think." Steve, impatient, reached over and opened the box. </p><p>Inside, two rings sat nestled in the velvet, simple dark metal. One was slightly bigger than the other, made for Bucky's metal finger, but otherwise they matched perfectly. </p><p>"You're actually asking me to—?"</p><p>Steve shook his head. "No, I'm not." He rested his forehead against Bucky's temple. "We're already married, Buck. Don't need anything else to know it. But I want other people to know it when you're buying fruit and I'm across the lot looking at pastries."</p><p>Bucky turned to look at Steve. "You're a fool, Rogers." But he kissed Steve softly, and lifted his hand against Steve's cheek. "Didn't need this when we were twenty-three."</p><p>Steve chased Bucky's lips for a moment, then pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Yes, I did. We just couldn't have this back then." </p><p>"Complete sap. Jesus Christ." </p><p>"You don't have to," Steve said, pulling the smaller ring out and turning it in his fingers. "But I'm—" </p><p>Bucky plucked the other ring out, <em>his</em> ring, holding it to his chest. "You're an absolute madman. I cannot believe I married you without even us discussing it." He held the ring out to Steve, gesturing with his other hand. "Switch so we can at least do this sort of right."</p><p>Steve softened and swapped them as requested. "I figure we can engrave something on them later, if we want." He reached for Bucky's hand. "But mostly I just want everyone to know what we've always known. That I'm yours. That we belong to each other." Steve dropped his head enough to press a kiss to Bucky's vibranium palm, and then he slid the ring on Bucky's finger. </p><p>Bucky took a moment to look at how it sat on his finger, how it looked on his hand. "I'll get Shuri to help this sit in the metal better." He smirked at Steve. "Could've had it figured out already if you weren't an impulsive idiot." Steve shoved his hand into Bucky's face while Bucky laughed. Then he took Steve's hand and squeezed Steve's fingers.</p><p>"End of the line," he said, kissing Steve's palm just as Steve had done first. "Never doubted that I'd love you in all my lives." He put the ring on Steve's finger, then took Steve's head in both his hands and pulled him in for a hard kiss. "Damn possessive fool since I met you."</p><p>They kissed a little more, then settled down to sleep. A normal bedtime, just like all the other normal days they'd enjoyed for almost a year now after retiring from the superhero life. They lived their quiet lives in a quiet town— just another married couple in the crowd.</p>
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